Why Do Misinterpreters Use Satire?

The Australian produced show Summer Heights High, is created and written by Chris Lilley, it was directed by Stuart McDonald. It was a mockumentary which takes place at Summer Heights Heigh, it was filmed over a school term. The show was centered around three characters Jonah, Ja’mie and a drama teacher called Mr.G. The show followed these three characters around displaying what their every day life is like. Jonah is a 13 year old boy from Tongah who has disciplinary problems and does not like to participate at school. Ja’mie is a private school girl that is on an exchange program. She is the typical snobby private school girl that thinks she is better then everyone else, she also thinks she can get away with anything. Mr G is

Satire is a literary work that uses irony, humor, or exaggeration to expose and/or criticize a vice. Satire has the capability to take serious matters and ease tension on the entire situation. It has a way of making things easier and lighter even though it brings out hardcore facts. The satirist makes an argument that relies upon the intellect of the audience to pick up on the hidden meaning; and due to its critical and judging nature, satire is sometimes deemed as excessive. However, in Last Week Tonight Show John Oliver (Wage Gap), The Lady’s Dressing Room by Jonathan Swift, and Gary McCoy’s political cartoon, opposing views are brought up with the use of Satire. The “Gender Wage Gap” sketch By John Oliver exposes the inequalities of women

He explains to them that if one news channel makes a mistake then it hurts everyone collectively similarly to how Mexican immigrants as a whole are being blamed for the mistakes of few people. Both Swift and The Daily Show through their pieces are hiding the actions of their opponents within their exaggerations. The pieces hold a deeper meaning when the opponents are able to realize their wrong actions on their own rather than being scolded for it. This method allows them to look within themselves. As a result, satire is an outlet for individuals to express their concerns seeing that people do not realize the true meaning at first glance.

Political satire is ubiquitous in United States. Social media are presenting uncountable numbers of political satires and tweets. As Iain Ellis, who has a Ph.D in American Culture Studies, said, “Today’s political humor infects, inflects, and injects into our national state of affairs”(Ellis 150). In relation to Ellis’ quote, the idea of utilizing humor as a political tool subverted my perception on humor, and such utilization has spread through not only in democratic countries, but also in countries like Egypt. Whether political humor and satires are beneficial for the society has been a controversial topic among scholars, politicians, and philosophers. Ramon Lopez, a fourth year Ph.D student studying political theory, proposes

The piece of satire that I will talk about in this paper is the Democratic debate sketch from the Saturday Night Live episode that aired on October 17, 2015. The main message of this sketch was that the only Democratic Candidates that receive attention and matter are Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. This program was successful because they only asked the two of them questions and at the beginning they were called the “real candidates” (October).

However, satire is still a method of writing being published today in order to express opinion and concern to political leaders. A modern work of satire is Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Updates.” This recurring skit consists of a summary of everything happening around the world during a given week. These news events are approached in a mocking and entertaining way that draws attention and can open the viewer’s eyes to the way their political officials are handling issues, or not handling issues. This essay will explore how these two examples of satire compare to each other and to the definition of a satire.

Through the years many politicians had objected political entertainment and satire, and argued it is subversive. Satire usually differs from political protest and speech because it does not carry an agenda or seek to influence politics. I would like to introduce two cases in which politicians took a strong resistance to satire on television:

Based on the reading my understanding is that “the press maintains a formal and routine relationship to political power.” (267) This assumed correctness makes other non-news subjects represented as illegitimate. This happens because: “entertainment media is seen as distractions from the serious duty of informed citizens.” (267) Furthermore, political satire is something that seems to be labeled as unimportant entertainment even though a lot of the same topics that are discussed in news media are also presented as satire, which intersect the two and make them more engaging to younger audiences. Jones says that this is a problem because satire often involves a new audience of people who otherwise would not be at all interested in news or politics.

I have forever been a keen reader of satire. I am especially fond of the way it depicts truths that are sometimes harsh and indigestible in a comic manner. While other genres of literature usually bury the shameful aspects of society in a bolted coffin, satire unearths the coffin of shame, unlocks it and teaches people to confront their shame. As I have grown up watching political satires such as Yes, Minister, Yes, Prime Minister, The Thick of It, Veep, etc., I might be, in a way, prejudiced in my opinion. Nevertheless, I am also quick in admitting my faults, thanks to the influence of satire.

Satires are used to make aware the problems of our society. This method of critique has been used for hundreds of years, however it is increasingly present in today’s society. Numerous television shows, movies, and books employ satire to bring about change or emphasize an injustice.

The aim for satirical humor is to provoke readers and even listeners to criticize the words and actions of the people who lead them, they can be politicians and even divine figures but when those words and actions are offensive or harmful to those whom they profess to lead, it can cause chaos, disruption and pain. Warburton writes about the difference between giving and taking offence and that were supposed to accept the fact that satirical humour is supposed to make us uncomfortable and that were not supposed to take offense to it but let’s not forget that exercising these liberties includes duties and responsibilities according to Ali Mohamed. Our right should be practiced and used to advocate against government corruption, for equal rights, social justice and many other things that actually matter and have value to all of us and bring us together and help us move forward as a society.

First introduced in ancient Greece in 423 B.C., “satire is a literary technique in which behaviors or institutions are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society” (Allen, Janet. “‘Satire.’” 608). Comic playwright Aristophanes introduced satire through his play The Clouds in 423 B.C. by using the literary technique to compare Socrates to Atheists. In the case of Aristophanes and many other satirists, “the target is often a social or political one” (Allen, Janet. “‘Satire.’” 608). Aristophanes’ play The Wasps in 422 B.C. brings this into perspective as he satirises about his disapproval with the Athenian court system. Great satirists like Aristophanes, Horace, Juvenal, Shakespeare, Swift, and Pope have “...sought to protect their highly developed civilization...by attacking hypocrisy, arrogance, greed, vanity, and stupidity” (Allen, Janet. “‘Satire.’” 608). Many authors and playwrights began to study satire and how to use it effectively to point out issues in society and in their governments but to do so in a more hidden and comedical way, “what sets satire apart from other forms of social and political protest is humor” (Allen, Janet. “‘Satire.’” 608). Jonathan Swift ultimately gripped the idea of satire and wrote one of the greatest satires ever in Gulliver’s Travels where, “...he vents his fury at political corruption and his annoyance with general worthlessness of human beings” (Allen 620). Swift expresses these feelings multiple times in the book in many different ways.

Satire can be used in many ways, although it is not always done in a convincing manner. Only a knowledgeable and creative writer can influence people through this device. Satire often uses humor to show a current problem, and in most cases, it does not provide a solution but is the catalyst for it. Emotions on the topic are prompted and in turn the audience connects with the writer and the conflict at hand. Throughout history authors have wielded the literary devices of satire to convey a message; mockery, irony, overstatement, and understatement can be the most effective by shedding light on an issue in an unusual way.

The success and impact of satirical news stories rely on the consumer’s ability to understand this form of irony. If this effect is achieved, a story can be just as beneficial as any other form of media. Popular satirical figure John Oliver agreed with this in reference to the use of irony in relation to the viewer, stating in an interview that his job required “making jokes about the news and sometimes we need to research things deeply to understand them.” (Oliver, 2014). This form of storytelling is not always successful. The audience

News satire is one of my favorite forms of comedy. News satire basically takes the news, something that people see every day and is typically serious, and makes it funny. Sometimes it is just completely fake or just exaggerated news. It could almost be considered incongruous because people do not expect news to be funny at all, so the fact that it is turned into comedy makes it incongruous to its regular nature. At the same time, it is also a form of comic relief . It provides people with relief from the anxiety they might feel when watching or reading the regular news. Watching news satire you are more likely to laugh than experience feeling of dread, concern, or worry. There can also be examples of benign violation depending on the material, so that depends on the topic the comedian is talking about and the way they decide to portray it.